Reliability and VI in Coombs

[Trent]

Hi there all. I have a Delica on hold from VI. After reading all the posts ( more that once ) I am starting to get "The Fear" about reliabilty issues with these vans. I guess what I'm asking is how many Delica's are there out there in BC and how many big issues there are? Water pumps? Fuel pumps? Belts? Etc? What are the stats? I know that a few people have had issues like "Surferboy" but it would sure be cool to hear from all the folks that haven't had problems.

I have talked to CCautos and I get a good vibe from Glen. The guys at VI have been honest so far I and since I have dealt with them first, I figure that I should see this sale through. JR, Tony, and Troy at VI seem to be straight shooters. Glen from CCautos seems to really know these vans.

I'm looking forward to my new hack. Any and all sugestions and advice is welcome.

Thanks all
Trent

[josh]

Trent,

The Delicas are used vehicles... and used=occasional problems. As far as I am concerned the problems on these vehicles compared to other used vehicles is very minor due to wear and tear. There is no rust, usually low milage, and they have generally been kept in better shape. That said, like all vehicles there will be problems.

I have driven mine close to 25,000km in the past 10 months and have only done routine or preventative maintenance. Not bad for a used vehicle. I don't think twice about taking it out on a long road trip.

I would say put your mind at ease, as far as used vehicles are concerned it is the cream of the crop. Sure you could get a lemon, but you can get a lemon anytime you buy. And yes, parts may be a tad more adventerous to source, but it gets easier every day! ... unless of course you want no worries whatsoever, in which case maybe buying used at all isn't your thing?

Hope you get a Delica!
Josh

[Adrock]

If you have minor technical knowledge you can get by with the waits for thing. I have to wait a few days to get a window motor, but I pulled the old one out and played with it and even though it is still being a jerk I got it to roll the window up, i then unplugged the cable to it so iw as not tempted to accidentally roll it down and have to take the door panel off to coax it up again. Nothing has gone wrong with my van that was not a product of the environment I put it in, I replaced the batteries and had to add an oil pan heater because I had it in some rather cold weather... I ran it out of gas and had to purge and prime the system to get it going again, nothing has really gone wrong except the window, and even then I'm sure if I had been easier on it it would have lasted a bit longer. I am a window down kind of guy, i fact it sucks having it stuck up right now.

Maybe this is the first car i've really had the urge to work on myself, but it is very straight forward and with the manual pretty much anything can be done.

If it were any other vehicle I may have called a mechanic right away and spent some dollars, but instead I did work myself because I didn't want to have to explain things to a mechanic, and answer questions about why I bought something so rare and blah blah blah.

Its an adventure, and if you do get a lemon, you could make a mint on the parts that do work, and buy a new one, theycant be all bad.

[Fanny Bay Delica]

Trent,

I to bought from VI, Glen does all my maintenance that is above my skill level and so far nothing on by ride has broken! 8) However, as everyone else has said these are 15 year old vehicles that are in amazing shape but rubber and nylon break down over time and routine preventive and corrective maintenance is obviously required. Over the last two weeks alone I put 2K kms driving all over the lower mainland and VI and the Deli is phenomenal!!!!

The difference here is you reviewing months of threads where everyone is discussing all aspects of their vehicles, mods, maintenance, everything. When you read it over a few days it may seem like there are a lot of issues but there really isn't. Even at 15 years of age these vehicles are much, much more reliable than any 5 year old North American product, just to compare we have an old pick up at work ('92) that we need to put thousands per year into it just to keep it on the road (we've now given up on it ).

I also like Adrock find it more fun to work on these vehicle more than my wife's Mazda MPV (I hate even going in it ) and as such I work on things far more than I would any of our other vehicles (except for my Gixer).

I would buy with confidence and have Glen go over it and do all the things that VI doesn't do, you know like preventive maintenance 8) 8) .

[Green1]

The biggest thing to remember is human nature, we all come on here and tell people about our problems because we need help, but very few of us pop on to say "been running fine, no problems!"

You look in a doctor's office and all you see is sick people, it's not because all people are sick, but because the sick ones go to the doctor.
Same here, you look in a forum that provides technical advice, and you find people in need of the advice, that doesn't mean everyone is having problems. just that those that are come in here to ask.

[Trent]

Thanks all. I feel better. My van should be hitting Coombs this week sometime. I have no idea of when I'll be actually driving it but am looking forward to it. The only thing I regret is not getting a Delica with a Hot/Cold box. That thing is just way too funny. Just big enough for a 6 pack. (Of Pepsi right?)
The pictures that VI sent me look good. I hope that the van looks as clean and rust free in real life.

Thanks again. I'll be doing a few road trips this summer and was starting to wonder about the mountain passes and blowing a head gasket or water pump or something.

[terrain]

I have to agree with everyone that it is a vehicle that inspires you to care for it (and tempts you to abuse it). Having owned numerous unreliable vehicles I have a spider sense for impending doom and I haven't had a tingle.

Do a full intravenous for all the fluids, replace the ligaments (belts,etc.) and then try and get it stuck somewhere just for fun.